People keep saying that, but how can it be said now that he's prevented anything? The terrorists put people in place and it might be years before they act. Who knows what individuals or groups have entered our open borders, or what visa overstayers are plotting some terrorist act?
If we can declare after Obama is sworn in that Bush kept us safe since 9/11, then we have to say that he was 100% responsible for 9/11, and that Clinton shared in none of the responsibility.
The actions a president did or did not take slop over into the next administrations, and Bush's deliberate refusal to enforce immigration laws might well come back to haunt us at any time in the next few years.
Whether or not Bush kept us safe is a topic best discussed a few years from now.
Notice that I said “appears.”
There hasn’t been another 9/11—yet. I agree with you: In the long run, Bush will be seen as a President who did nothing to identify or slow any of the trends leading to the destruction of the U.S. He inherited a country on a collision course with death, and he passes along to his “successor” a country still hurtling in the same direction.
It all started with “compassionate conservatism” and “a new tone.” In other words: go along to get along.